After winning the Bundesliga title three rounds in advance and celebrating until the evening, Ralph gave the team two full days off to let the players have a good rest and celebrate with their family and friends.
It was not until the morning of the 32nd round of the Bundesliga on May 13 that Ralf led the team with most of the substitutes to the away game to participate in the league against Bielefeld.
Although the opponent was weak and deep in the relegation zone, Hoffenheim, who had not trained for two days and played with mostly substitutes, unsurprisingly lost 0-2 to Bielefeld, who was trying desperately to gain points to avoid relegation.
Of course, no one cares.
For Hoffenheim, who have already won the championship, their league has ended early, and all that remains is to prepare for the finals of the UEFA Cup and the German Cup.
In the previous round, Lu Wenbin defeated Cologne 3-0 at home and received a reward of 20,000 experience points for 2 goals and 20,000 for winning, a total of 40,000 experience points, and his experience points increased to level 16, 787,000/2 million.
In this round, Lu Wenbin didn't even make the main roster, so naturally he didn't gain any experience at all. His experience continued to remain at 787,000/2 million at level 16.
After the match with Bielefeld, the team will start training seriously to prepare for the UEFA Cup final.
We can't really think that we will win just because our opponent in the UEFA Cup final is a Ukrainian team. We can't just sit there and do nothing before the game.
The players of Shakhtar Donetsk are also looking forward to an upset, a comeback, becoming famous, and winning the first European championship for a Ukrainian team!
So, after the team resumed training, Ralph first gave everyone a political lesson, using video collections and examples to explain the stories of several small European league teams that counterattacked and defeated the teams from the top five leagues and won the championship.
In particular, Ralph focused on the example of last season's UEFA Cup, in which Zenit St. Petersburg defeated Bayern Munich 5-1 in two rounds and eventually won the championship.
Because Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich are both first in the Bundesliga and look strong, they should win against the Eastern European teams.
But the final result was that Bayern was defeated in both rounds, which was the most humiliating score in their European history.
This example is the most convincing because it is recent and has reference value.
Ralph wanted to use this example and other games to warn the team not to underestimate the opponent just because they won the Bundesliga championship.
In this UEFA Cup final, everyone must play with full spirit and concentration and treat it as the Champions League final and the World Cup final.
After Ralph's political class, all the players were refreshed and put the UEFA Cup final in the most important position, forgetting the joy of winning the Bundesliga championship a few days ago.
At the same time, Ralph also gave up the next league game against Bayern Munich, which was only used to train the players and get them feeling the game.
On May 16, Hoffenheim faced Bayern Munich at home in the 33rd round of the Bundesliga, which was also the penultimate round of the league this season.
Ralph fielded a lineup of half main players and half substitutes. Eduardo, who returned from the league ban, was able to start, while Lu Wenbin sat on the bench in the first half.
For Hoffenheim, which has already won the championship in advance, the result of this league is not within everyone's concern at all. Hoffenheim originally used this game as a practical exercise to train troops.
This is undoubtedly a shame for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
In addition, they also need to compete for a place in the Champions League, so Bayern Munich played very hard and wanted to defeat Hoffenheim away.
They also managed to score two goals in the 34th minute of the first half and the 62nd minute of the second half, leading Hoffenheim 2-0 at the Rhein-Neckar Arena.
It looks like Bayern Munich has secured the victory and Hoffenheim is bound to lose.
However, the home Hoffenheim fans did not feel frustrated at all, because Hoffenheim, who had already won the championship, did not need to win this game at all.
Only in the 75th minute of the second half, when Ralph substituted Lu Wenbin, did the packed home stadium, the press seats and the commentary booth immediately become boiling.
Everyone has been looking forward to Lu Wenbin's appearance and scoring a goal!
There are so many home fans coming to this league game which is of no importance to Hoffenheim. They are not coming to see the superstars of Bayern Munich, but to see whether Lu Wenbin can play and score goals.
Now seeing Ralph replace Lu Wenbin on the court, everyone immediately became excited.
Lu Wenbin's previous Bundesliga goal tally was 46, which is the same as the European Golden Boot record of 46 goals set by Hector Yassalde of Sporting Lisbon in the 1973/1974 season after the European Golden Boot award was established in the 1967/1968 season.
Lu Wenbin's record-tying goal in the last round of the league was drowned out by Hoffenheim's joy of winning the championship, and everyone had no time to celebrate for Lu Wenbin.
But in this league match against Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim, who has already won the championship, may not care about winning or losing, but Lu Wenbin's fans and media reporters care about whether Lu Wenbin can score a goal to break Yasard's European Golden Boot record for the highest goal.
Everyone came to report and watch the game live with the mentality of witnessing a new record.
And Lu Wenbin did not disappoint everyone.
Of course, this is also inseparable from the assistance of the whole team.
Although winning or losing doesn't matter, everyone still wants to help Lu Wenbin score a goal.
In particular, Eduardo, who returned from the league ban, directly assisted Lu Wenbin's goal.
In the 85th minute, Lu Wenbin briefly got rid of Demichelis and Lucio who were defending him through two consecutive changes of direction and then, at the top of the penalty area, he faced Eduardo's timely cross pass and shot directly with a powerful shot without stopping.
The third defender, Sagnol, was a step slower, and the ball passed by his outstretched toes and flew quickly towards the lower right corner of the goal along the grass.
Although goalkeeper Rensing made a save, Lu Wenbin's shot was powerful and at a sharp angle and went straight into the blind corner.
In the end, Rensing failed to catch the ball, and the black and white football stuck to the grass and went into the goal.
Seeing the ball go into the net, Hoffenheim's exclusive commentator Caster, who had already stood up and stretched his neck to look at the goal, suddenly yelled madly: "Toooooooooooooooooooor..."
"The ball goes in, the ball goes in! With a long shot from outside the penalty area, Lu scored his 47th Bundesliga goal, breaking the European Golden Boot Award record of 46 goals set by Yasard in the 1973/1974 season!"
"New record, a new record for the number of goals scored in the European Golden Shoe! Lu has become the record holder for the highest number of goals scored since the establishment of the European Golden Shoe Award!"
Commentators from other TV stations also shouted and gave excited commentaries on Lu Wenbin's significant goal.
The entire Rhine-Neckar Arena was like a boiling oil pan, with countless people holding up Lu Wenbin's portrait and clapping, screaming, and cheering to congratulate Lu Wenbin.
The big screen at the scene also displayed the words "New European Golden Boot record: 47 goals—Lu Wenbin" to pay tribute to Lu Wenbin.
Lu Wenbin set a new record for the highest goal scored in the European Golden Boot Award with 47 league goals in a single season!
(The first update will be on May 2, please give me your monthly votes and recommendation tickets!)